Oshkosh schools to implement changes after busing blunders

Students make their way out to their buses after the second day of school Sept. 3 at Oakwood Environmental Education Charter School in Oshkosh.
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A month after a series of computer glitches caused widespread busing problems that left a 4-year-old boy stranded for hours, the Oshkosh Area School District is implementing a series of changes to help avoid similar issues in the future, district leaders announced Monday.

During a Sept. 19 meeting with Kobussen Buses Ltd., the company that administers the district’s busing service, school leaders outlined the following changes:

• Kobussen will provide a dedicated in-case-of-emergency phone number to district staff members.

• School district and bus company leaders will research new transportation software to find a program that works better with the district’s Infinite Campus student information system and allows parents to see their bus information.

• Kobussen will enhance its bus driver training program to focus on positive behavior, conscious discipline and bullying prevention techniques.

The changes come as a welcomed first step in the improvement process for Kristine Fredrick, whose 4-year-old grandson Michael was left stranded for about two hours on the first day of school.

Family members found him, still on the bus, at the Boys & Girls Club because the driver didn’t know where to drop him off. Fredrick said she recently met with school officials, including Superintendent Stan Mack II, to discuss the incident.

“It doesn’t seem it’s quite right yet,” Fredrick said, noting the boy’s parents continue to drive him to and from school each day. “It would be good if the kids did have some (sort of identification) on them. They don’t necessarily know what their address or what their mommy’s name is.”

The Fredricks’ experience, albeit one of the more extreme cases, was not unique, after a series of computer glitches caused issues for many families of students in 4K and those with special needs that did not receive information before school started about when or where the bus would pick up or drop off their children.

‘We’re still not sure we’re ready to put Michael on a bus,” Fredrick said. “If they do the things that they’re promising, maybe, but I don’t know that that’s enough. ... Now that we’ve got a system, I don’t know that we want to change that this year.”

On Aug. 29, Kobussen’s computer system crashed when the company tried importing data from the district’s new student information system, school officials said previously. The glitch wiped out much of company’s route information, leaving the company employees scrambling to finish routing maps and during the Labor Day weekend.

Despite that effort, they were not able to finish all routes by the time school let out Sept. 2. School officials quickly apologized for what they called an inexcusable blunder, and began working with bus company leaders to resolve the issues.

“The school district would like to sincerely apologize to our families,” said Sue Schnorr, the district’s executive director of business services. “We take the transportation and safety of our students very seriously. We are very sorry for the frustrations and inconveniences this problem has caused. We are committed to fixing it and taking measures to prevent similar situations from happening in the future.”

If parents continue to have questions, they may contact the district’s transportation secretary, Jane Mathe, at (920) 424-4055; Kobussen at (920) 424-7575; or Schnorr at (920) 424-0122.